As state investigates possible bird flu case, farmers worry about impact to local agriculture

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii is the only state that hasn’t reported a case of H5N1, but that might change after an infected specimen was collected from a wastewater site on Oahu last week.
As health officials investigate the source, farmers worry about the disease’s impact on the local agriculture industry.
“Any farm that gets the disease, even if it’s only one barn on the farm, the entire farm will die. It moves that quickly, so the only way to contain it is to put down the birds,” said Waialua Egg Farm co-owner Michael Sencer.
He believes infected wild birds migrating from Alaska could have brought it to the islands.
“This new avian flu does not seem to be affected by heat. So it doesn’t matter where in the U.S., Arizona, even in Mexico, it flourishes,” Sencer added.
Sencer said the farm has precautions in place to protect its animals and workers.
“All of our barn workers go through a shower-in, shower-out,” he explained. “You have to sign an affidavit that you haven’t been near poultry for 72 hours. And when you come into the processing plant, you have to go through a chlorine bath with your shoes. Then you have to put on booties, and you have to sign some affidavits.”
The CDC says current public health risk is low and those at highest risk are people who have direct contact with sick birds.
Infectious disease expert Axel Lehrer said there’s no reason to be very concerned — even if a traveler infected with bird flu were to enter Hawaii or if feral chickens were to get the disease.
“Fortunately, at this point, it is not a large human to human spread that would be a risk,” said Lehrer, a professor at UH John A. Burns School of Medicine. “Most human cases would have been acquired from direct contact with an infected animal. So at this point, it is still mostly an animal disease.”
Lehrer says Hawaii has faced bird flu scares since the early 2000s.
“Keep in mind that these PCR techniques are extremely sensitive, so only a very tiny amount of the viral RNA in the wastewater would be able to be detected,” Lehrer said.
“There’s the possibility that, for example, with mainland eggs or something, that some viral RNA might be kind of coming into the state, and that would be one of the possible explanations,” he added.
Still, DOH is urging residents to take precautions, especially when around animals and consuming animal products.
Symptoms of avian flu include fever, cough, sore throat and pink eyes.
Seek medical attention immediately if you have any of those symptoms and have recently been in close contact with sick or dead animals.
DOH is planning to hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.